Shape-forming structures



N. T. SANDERS SHAPE-FORMING STRUCTURES March 19, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 24,. 1958 H hm m wa l l k m M u r i I 8 I $0 HTT'OQNED".

3,8l,922 Patented Mar. 19, 1963 3,081,922 SHAPE-FORMING STRUCTURES Norman Thomas Sanders, Mappleborough Green, Studley, England, assignor to Needle Industries Limited, Birmingham, England, a British company Filed Dec. 24, 1958, Ser. No. 782,704 7 Claims. (Cl. 223-65) This invention relates to a new or improved shapeforming structure and is applicable primarily to models of the human body or part thereof and to garment supports (herein referred to collectively as lay figures). The invention is however, applicable in other fields such, for example, as to models of industrial products and to toys.

Broadly according to the invention, a shape-forming structure is provided comprising a plurality of strip elements for forming a skeleton shell, each of said strip elements having faces of greater width than the thickness of such element and having a plurality of holes extending through it between said faces and spaced apart longitudinally of such strip element, and each of said strip elements being formed of a non-metallic material such that said strip element has components of both elastic and plastic deformability in a direction perpendicular to its faces and is relatively more rigid in a plane parallel to its faces while being expansible radially around said holes and fastening means for releasably securing said strip elements together in lattice formation and engaging face-to-face at junctions of said lattice formation, said fastening means comprising stud elements each including a shank portion extending through aligned pairs of said holes at one of said junctions, means for elastically expanding at least part of said strip elements bordering said pair of aligned holes in response to manual pressure on said stud element, and head means at opposite ends of said shank portion engaging with respective faces of said stud elements and operatively connected with said ex pansion means to exert pressure on said faces resisted by said elastically expanded part.

The term strip element means an element of which the length is appreciably greater than the Width and the width is appreciably greater than the thickness, so that when fastened between two longitudinally spaced positions which are closer together than the length of the element extending between them the latter will become bowed Wholly or predominantly in the direction of its thickness rather than in the direction of its width.

Certain of the strip elements of the shape-forming structure herein termed the main strip elements may be wider or thicker than other strip elements herein termed subordinate strip elements so as to have a stiffness which is greater than that of the subordinate strip elements. This facilitates the building-up of the shape-holding skeleton shell in that certain main strip elements may be first assembled and fastened together to define the general shape of the shell which is completed or elaborated by addition of subordinate strip elements.

The degree of elasticity afforded by the strip elements is such that in the completed shape-forming structure it is possible to displace portions of the skeleton shell inwardly or outwardly as may be required in an elastic manner. This is of greater importance in fitting garments of non-extensible textile material which are required to be fitted closely or tensioned. Further, this characteristic enables a constricted portion of garment such as a waist portion to be passed over broader portions of the lay figure by deforming these elastically and temporarily so that afterwards they revert to their original shape and form.

The fastening elements may comprise headed studs having shanks which penetrate overlapping holes in the Strip elements and provide a degree of cantilever constraint against deflection of one such strip element relatively to its companion strip element.

One advantageous form of fastening element which may be employed is a stud having a head at the leading end of its shank affording a domed, bevelled, or other forwardly tapering leading face to facilitate pressing of the stud through pre-formed holes in the strip elements of dimensions such that the head is an interference fit, the stud having a broader head at the trailing end of its shank, the spacing between the strip engaging faces of the tWo heads being such that the stud holds them in pressure contact when pressed through said pre-formed holes therein.

The trailing face of the head at the leading end may also be of domed, bevelled or rearwardly tapering form, to enable the stud to be forced out of penetrating relation with the strip elements when it is required to disassemble them. Preferably this spacing of the heads is such that at least part of the trailing face is still disposed within the hole of one of the strip elements when thus secured together and with the stud pressed fully home.

An alternative form of fastening element which may be employed is a rivet having a generally parallel sided shank provided with a head at its trailing: end, the holes in the strip elements in this case being of such dimensions that the shank is an interference fit therein.

The leading end of the shank may be of forwardly tapering form to facilitate entry.

The degree of cantilever constraint or support between strip elements thus fastened together may be varied by utilising one, two, or more fastening elements at spaced positions within the area of a junction or intersection.

It is preferred that the strip elements should have each a plurality of pre-formed longitudinally spaced holes. The degree of bowing which is put upon a particular strip element can thus be varied merely by moving longitudinally spaced portions of the elements at respective junctions or intersections towards and away from each other so as to bring the appropriate hole in this element into overlapping relation with that in the other elements at said junctions or intersections, and then passing a fastening element through the overlapping holes so as to retain the first said strip element with the required degree of bowing applied thereto. The strip elements may, however, be initially imperforate. In this case a device may be pro vided for holding the strip elements in face-to-face relation whilst perforating them and pressing home a fastening element.

Further, strut elements or tie elements may be provided for extending internally of the shell between spaced positions having at their ends means enabling them to be secured to the shell to the inwardly presented faces of the strip elements. Such strut or tie elements may be exten sible, for example formed of telescopically adjustable parts.

The strip elements or any of them may be marked with indicia adapted to facilitate their assembly in particular positions in a shape-forming structure. The strip elements or any of them may also, if desired, be marked with indicia to facilitate the fastening of other strip elements thereto at particular predetermined positions, as for example may be contained in a set of instructions for building a particular shape-forming structure.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a view in side elevation of a fragment of a lay figure in accordance with the invention.

FIGURE 2 is a view in front elevation thereof.

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary view on an enlarged scale and in cross section illustrating a suitable form of fastening element.

FIGURE 4' is a further fragmentary view on an enlargcd scale and in'cross sectionillustrating the manner of securing together thecompone'nts of a longitudinally split or divided strip element.

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary view in front elevation illustrating an alternative mode of securing releasably main componnet parts of the lay figure to enable these to be withdrawn readily from the person upon whom the lay figure is built up.

FIGUR'E'GiS a fragmentary view similar to FIGURE 3 illustrating analternative form of fastening element.

FIGURE 7 illustrates in side elevation one form of stand or column adapted to' extend internally of the lay figure and carrying strut or tie elements connected internally of the lay figure to the strip elements thereof, the lay figure being shown in chain outlines.

FIGURE 8 is a plan view on the line 77 of FIG- URE 6.

' FIGURE9 is a View similar to FIGURE 3 illustrating firstly'a modified form of strip element incorporating two rows of preformed holes and secondly the employment of an elastically extensible sheath covering the lay figure, and

FIGURE 10 is a fragmentary view partly in cross section illustrating a modificationwhich may be incorporated in the strut or tie elements;

Referring to FIGURES l to 4 the portion of the lay figure illustrated comprises a neck portion 10, a shoulder portion 11 and a breast portion 12.

These portions are defined by certain main strip ele ments namely a neck band'13, a breast bone element 14, a shoulder forming element 15 and an'arm pit forming element 16.

In combination with these main elements the foregoing portions are further defined by subordinate strip elements namely 17 (forming a shoulder band), 18, 19, 20, 21, 22

and 23, forming a breast and'shoulder forming group ex-' tending in generally parallel relation (as viewed in first elevation) and 24, 25 forming abreast and neck forming group-extending transversely of and intersecting with the elements of the first said group.

All the strip elements are made from a non-metallic material which is selected so that it can be bent transversely to the planes in which the main faces of the strips lie by the use of ordinary finger pressure so as to achieve the various convex and concave faces incorporated in the lay figure. The elasticity of the material should be such that the degree of bending necessary to achieve the desired configuration is predominantly elastic. In other words there may be' some permanent set of the material after it is bent but desirably this should be small in relation to the total bending deflection thereby enabling the strip elements to be used repeatedly in respect of the same positions on diiferent lay figures, or possibly in different positions on'the same lay figure if required. This enables the lay figure to be taken apart and the component parts thereof stored in the form of a kit when it is not required for use. Furthermore, the strip elements when thus taken apart and stored will revert predominantly to their initially straightforrn so that the space required for packaging and storage of the kit is much smaller than would be the case were the bending defiection of each strip element to be retained or largely retained in the form of a permanent set.

The elastici-ty of the strip elements is also important in achieving ability to deform the completed lay figure locally in an elastic manner for various purposes such as the taking :on and off of garments having constricted portions such as waist portions and incorrectly fitted portions of the garment which in use are required to be maintained in tension. In lay figures which are of substantially rigid form the performance of this last mentioned operation is extremely difficult or virtually impossible, whilst a lay figure which is permanently deformable such as one made of wire does not permit of a tension being set up and maintained in a piece of dressmaking fabric which itself is non-elastic. Consequentlytheinvention is particularly beneficial in facilitating the attainment of an accurate fit' of a garment required to have these particular characteristics.

A preferred material which we have found especially suitable to form the strip elements is vulcanised fibre manufactured by Spauldings Limited of Clerkenwell, London, and sold under the designation Leather'oid.

When utilising this material the main strip elements 13 to 16 may be from 1" to 1 1" in width and about 0502" to (104" in thickness a preferred value being 0028 The subordinate strip elements which are shown at 18 to 25 may be about /8 in width and of the same thickness asthe main strip elements.

An alternative material which may be employed is polythene.

In this case, the dimensions referred to above may be somewhat modified so as to attain approximately the'same' characteristics'of stifi'ness and elasticity. For example,

the main strip elements may be about 1 /2" wide and about 0.045 thick whilst the subordinate strip elements may be about the same thickness and about /z" in width.

At their junctions and intersections the strip elements are secured together by fastening elements in the form of rivets as indicated generally at 26. As seen particularly in FIGURE 3 each rivet may comprise two components, the first having a socketed shank 27 and head 28 and the second having a shank 29 which enters into the socketed shank 27 to expand same slightly after the socketed shank has been passed through registering holes 'in'the two strip elements such as 19 and 24 and a head 30 which limits the inter-penetration of the shank 29 and socketed shank 27.

lt'wi-ll be observed that the heads 28 and 30 themselves provide some degree of cantilever constraint of the element 11 with respect to the element 15, but additional constraint is achieved by virtue of the fact that the'strip elements may be fastenedto each other at spaced apart positions such as occur at the junction of strip elements 13 and 25. A

The shanks 27 may be so sized'and made of such material that they ican readily be inserted by finger pressure through registering holes in two strip elements and likewise the shanks 22 are insertable into assembled relation with the shanks 27 by finger pressure.

By fastening strip elements at junctions or intersections at a plurality of spaced apart positions within the area of the junction or intersection, the strip elements, as in the case of those illustrated at 13 and 25, are constrained against relative angular movement in or parallel to the planes of the strips themselves at the junction or intersection.

In other cases, however, fastening is effected at junctions or intersections with a single fastening element only as at the intersection of strip elements 20 and 24, and in these cases there is no constraint at the junction or intersection itself by virtue of the fastening element itself against relative angular movement in or parallel to the planes of the two fastened strip elements at such junction or intersection. Such constraint as exists arising from the lattice-like nature of the structure as a whole.

The lay figure may be adapted to be taken apart into main component parts or sub-assemblies which can be withdrawn readily from the person upon whom the lay figure is built up in the first instance. This may be done by making main strip elements such as 14 divisible along their centre-lines, the two component parts 14a, 14b being provided with means for releasably securing them together when required.

One form of such means is illustrated in FIGURE 4 and may comprise a plate-like connecting piece 31 from which project preferably integral shanks 32 (equivalent to the shanks 29). The connecting piece bridges the components 14a, 14b and is releasably retained by rivet components having heads 28 and socketed shanks 27 as already described.

Separation may also be arranged to take place along such other main elements as may be necessary to enable main portions of the lay figures to be removed.

It will be observed that although in most cases the strip elements are caused to bow in such a manner as to present convex surfaces outwardly of the lay figure as in the case of elements 18 to 20, certain of them such as the strip element 16 and parts of elements 24, 25, are caused to bow inwardly of the figure to present concave surfaces externally. These band elements may be split at one position to facilitate removal and the free end portions over-lapped and secured together as required by fastening elements as seen at 27 or as in FIGURE 4.

One of the advantages of the invention is that the strip elements may be taken apart and re-used for the construction of lay figures or other skeleton shells or different shape as required. When employing strip elements made from vulcanised fibrous material or of polythene it is found that these do not take an appreciable permanent set as a result of being bowed in the construction of aparticular lay figure, and may therefore be used in quite different places when used subsequently in another lay figure or other skeleton shell.

Referring now to the various modifications and additions illustrated in FIGURES 5 to there is shown in FIGURE 5 thereof an alternative construction which replaces the sub-divided main strip elements 14a and 14b and connecting pieces 31.

In this construction main strip elements 95 and 96 are over-lapped with each other by about half their width and are releasably secured together by fastening elements 97 which may be of the type illustrated in FIGURE 3 or either of the types illustrated in FIGURES 6 or 8 of the present drawings.

In FIGURE 6 is illustrated an alternative form of fastening element which may be employed with strip elements having preformed holes.

This fastening element shown in FIGURE 6 by way of example as securing together strip elements 19 and 24 is in the form of a stud including a shank 63 which at its trailing end is formed with an integral flat plate-like head 64, and at its leading end with a bulbous head 65. The bulbous head 65 presents a leading face portion 66 which is of domed or forwardly tapering form thus facilitating penetration of the aligned holes of the strip elements 19 and 24 and a trailing face portion 67 which is of domed or rearwardly tapering form which will enable the stud to be withdrawn by prising out the head 64 with a thumbnail of fiat blade. Further the face 67 is operative to engage the inner edge face of the hole in the strip element 24 and due to slight elastic deformation of the material of the strip element bordering on this hole, the stud is effective to clamp the strips 19 and 24 in face-to-face pressure contact.

The skeleton shell may be filled-in to any extent desired by the use of a greater or lesser number of subordinate strip elements. In thecase of a lay figure utilised for fitting garments the lattice spaces between the strip elements are preferably large enough to permit of the insertion of the users fingers for the purpose of fastening com. ponent parts of the garment in particular positions on the lay figure.

It will be observed thatthis may be done by the provision of fastening elements by means of which component parts of the garment may be secured to the strip elements of the lay figure preparatory to fastening component parts of the garment to each other.

In some uses of the invention, however, it may be desired that the skeleton shell should present a substantially unbroken or continuous outer surface, and where this factor is more important than ability to insert hands through the lattice structure a modification may be adopted as illustrated in FIGURE 12. The portion of the lay figure illusrated therein which corresponds to that of FIGURE 3 is encased in a sheath 68 which is elastically expansible and which is of dimensions to be maintained in pressure contact with the strip elements when assembled over the lay figure. The sheath may be of tubular form and made from a knitted fabric having a requisite degree of elasticity.

A further modification illustrated in FIGURE 9 is that both the subordinate strip elements (indicated at 69 and 70) and the main strip element 71 (sub-divided into 71a and 71b), each have two rows of holes extending longitudinally of the strip element concerned, the holes of one of these rows being offset longitudinally so as to lie opposite the mid-points between the holes of the other row. This provides a greater number of finite positions in which two joning or intersecting strip elements may be secured with each other, and thereby increases the accuracy with which any particular lay figure can be made to conform to the configuration of the person upon whom it is built up.

Referring now to FIGURES 7 and 8 there is shown therein an upstanding stand or column indicated generally at 72 and disposed within the lay figure at which the outline is indicated in chain lines 73. The stand or column may be built up of a plurality of upwardly extending rods conveniently three in number as indicated at 74. These may converge with respect to each other in the upward direction and may extend through respective holes in the radiating arms 75 of a lower strut or tie unit 76 and through corresponding holes in an upper strut or tie unit 77. The rods may be a tight sliding fit in these holes to permit the units 76 and 77 to be adjusted vertically along the rods and vary their vertical spacing and register them with appropriate horizontal zones of the lay figure at which auxiliary control of the shape and dimensions of the figure as viewed in plan cross-section is required.

Typically, such control may be required within the neck band or neck forming structure of the lay figure and also in the hip portion as illustrated respectively in FIGURE 6 by the positions of the units 76 and 77.

It will, however, be understood that further similar units may be provided if desired, at other positions for example, in the waist zone and the bust zone.

Furthermore the units can be secured on the rods 74 or other column forming structure or members by releasable securing or clamping means such as set screws or cotter pins or spring urged plungers engageable in openings spaced lengthwise along the rods or column forming structure or members.

The strut or tie units themselves may include further radiating arms as illustrated in the case of the unit 76 at 78, these arms at their outer ends being adapted to be secured in abutting relation to the inner face of the lay figure. For example, the arms 78 may include bores or sockets at their outer ends for the reception of fastening elements such as are illustrated in FIGURES 3 or 6.

The lengths of the arms 78 may be adjusted by forming each arm by telescopically assembled parts 79 and 80, the latter being a tight sliding fit in the former, or if desired, being secured in any of a plurality of positions of adjustment by set screws, cotters or other means.

The parts 79 and the arms '74 may be integrally connected to a central boss 81 so as to form a spider which may be formed with a bearing opening 82 at its centre enabling the stand to be mounted for rotation about a vertical axis upon a suitable base structure (not illustrated) which conveniently may be of tripod form presenting an upwardly presenting spigot to enter the bearing opening 72 and legs of adjustable length-s.

It will be evident that the arms 78 may be utilised to extend the strip elements to which they are connected at 7. their ends in an outward direction beyond the position which such strip elements would otherwise occupy in which case the arms '78 would be compressively loaded and would be acting as strut elements or alternatively may be utilised to draw the strip elements or alternatively may be utilised to draw the strip elements inwardly from the lay figure, in which case the arms would be in tension and acting as tie elements. 7

In FIGURE 13 there is shown an arrangement which permits of limited elastiedisplacement of the strut or tie elements from an adjusted position. In this construction the central boss of the spider isprovided with radiating arms including integral inner parts 83 terminating in rodlike spigots 8-4 on which are disposed coiled compression springs 85 retained between the shoulder 36 of the part 83 and a washer 87 held in position by a circlip 88 or cotter pin. The outer part of each arm comprises a tubular member '89 which is slidable lengthwise on the arm part 83 and contains aperipherally grooved bush H} which is slidable on the rod-like spigot 84 between the two springs 85, the bush 9% being rendered fast with the tubular member 89 by an inwardly pressed groove or projections 9d thereon which enter the peripheral groove of the bush. At the outer end the tubular member 89 may include a flanged bush 92 having an opening for receiving a fastening element such as a rivet component 93 passing through a strip element 94 of the skeleton shell.

The strip elements may be coded by being marked with indicia to identify the particular positions for which they are intended to be used in a particular skeleton shell such as a lay figure. Any slight permanent deformation will not be of particular importance.

The marking of reference numbers, letters, or other coding on the strip elements is particularly useful inasmuch as it facilitates the construction of a lay figure or other skeleton shell which is symmetrical about a reference plane, such for example as a vertical plane passing through the centreline of the strip element 14, 71' or 36. Numerals may also be marked on the strips or certain of them to facilitate construction of particular sizes of lay figures, such as the neckband formed of element 13 or 35 or shoulder band element 17 or 39.

A further advantage of the invention specially when employing vulcanised fibre, polythene or similar plastics material for the strip elements is that lay figures or other skeleton shells are extremely light in weight and a lay figure, for example of life size, can readily be handled by a single person. Typically a complete torso would weigh under 3 pounds.

What I claim then is:

1. A shape-forming structure comprising a plurality of strip elements for forming a skeleton shell, each of said stripele'me'nts having faces of greater width than the thickness of such element and having a plurality of holes extending through it between said faces and spaced apart longitudinally of such strip element, and each of said strip elements being formed of non-metallic material such that such strip element has components of both elastic and plastic deformabiiity in a direction perpendicular to its faces and is relatively more rigid in a plane parallel to its faces while being expansible radially around said holes, and fastening means for'releasably securing said strip elements together in lattice formation and engaging face-to-face at junctions of said lattice formation, said fastening means comprising stud elements extending through aligned pairs of said holes at one of said junctions, and incorporating an outer shank member having an axially extending opening and an inner shank member engaging in said opening and of larger cross-section than that afforded by said opening, heads at each end of said shank portion and connected respectively to said inner and outer shank member, the latter being expansible radially in response to relative axial movement of said inner shank member in pressing said head means manually 8 into engagement with respective faces of said strip elements.

2. A shape-forming structure comprising a plurality of strip elements for forming a skeleton shell, each of said strip elements having faces of greater width than the thickness of such element and having a plurality of holes extending through it between said faces and spaced apart longitudinally of such strip element, and each of said strip elements being formed of non-metallic material such that said strip element has components of both elastic and piastic deformability in a direction perpendicular to its faces and is relatively more rigid in a plane parallel to its faces while being expansible radially around said holes, and fastening means for releasably securing said strip elements together in lattice formation and engaging face-to-face at junctions of said lattice formation, said fastening means comprising stud elements each including a shank portion extending through aligned pairs of said holes, a head of flat plate-like form at one end of said shank portion having a face at its inner end which is generally perpendicular to said shank portion, and a further head of bulbous form at the other endof said shank portion and having a face at its inner end which is convergent in a direction towards the first said head, said heads being fixedly connected to said shank portion and spaced apart by a distance such that the distance between said'faces at their inner ends is less than the combined thickness of said strip elements'through which said shank portion extends. V g

3. A shape-forming structure comprising a plurality of trip elements for forming a skeleton shell, each of said strip elements having faces of greater width than the thickness of such element and having a plurality of holes extending through it between said faces and spaced apart longitudinally of such strip element, and each of said strip elements being formed of non-metallic material such that said strip element has components of both elastic and plastic deformability in a direction perpendicular to its faces and is relatively more rigid in a plane parallel to its faces While being expansible' radially around said holes, and fastening means for releasably securing said strip elements together in lattice formation and engaging face-to-face at junctions of said lattice formation, said fastening means comprising press-fit stud elements each 7 including a shank portion extending through aligned pairs of said holes at one of said junctions, and heads at opposite ends of said shank portion fixedly connected thereto and engaging with respective faces of said strip elements, said fastening means incorporating means for elastically expanding at least part of said strip elements bor dering said pair of aligned holes in response to manual pressure on said heads in a direction axially of said shank portion to provide tight assembly of said strip elements and fastening means.

4. A shape-forming structure comprising a plurality of strip elements for forming a skeleton shell, each of said strip elements having faces of greater width than the thickness of such element and having a plurality of holes extending through it between said faces and spaced apart longitudinally of such strip element, and each of said strip elements being formed of non-metallic material such that said strip element has components of both elastic and plastic deformability in a direction perpendicular to its faces and is relatively more rigid in a plane parallel to its faces while being expansible radially aroundsaid holes, and fastening means for releasably securing said strip elements together in lattice formation and engaging faceto-face at junctions of said lattice formation, said fasteningmeans comprising stud elements each including a radially expansible shank portion extending through aligned pairs of said holes at one of said junctions, heads at opposite ends of said shank portion movable relatively towards each other in response to manual pressure on said heads to exert clamping pressure on respective faces of said strip elements, friction-held expansion means incorporated in said shank portion operable in response to said movement of said heads to expand elastically at least part of said strip elements bordering on said pair of aligned holes.

5. A shape-forming structure comprising -a plurality of strip elements for forming a skeleton shell, each of said strip elements having faces of greater Width than the thickness of such element and having a pluraltiy of holes extending through it between said faces and spaced apart longitudinally of such strip element, and each of said strip elements being formed of non-metallic material such that said strip element has components of both elastic and plastic deformalbility in a direction perpendicular to its faces and is relatively more rigid in a plane parallel to its faces while being expansible radially around said holes, and fastening means for releasably securing said strip elements together in lattice formation and engaging face-toface at junctions of said lattice formation, said fastening means comprising stud elements each including a shank portion extending through aligned pairs of said holes, heads at opposite ends of and connected to said shank portion and spaced from each other by a distance less than twice its thickness of one of said strip elements, one of said heads being of a cross section enabling it to be pressed manually through said aligned pair of holes and having at its end nearest the other head a trailing face which is convergent in a direction towards the shank portion, and at its larger end is of greater cross-section than that of said pair of aligned holes, said convergent face being disposed within one of said pair of aligned holes to expand at least part of said strip element incorporating such hole and provide tight assembly of said strip elements and fastening means.

6. A shape-forming structure comprising a plurality of strip elements for forming a skeleton shell each of said strip elements having faces of greater width than the thickness of such element and having a plurality of holes extending through it between said faces and spaced apart longitudinally of such strip element, and each of said strip elements being formed of non-metallic material such that said strip element has components of both elastic and plastic deformability in a direction perpendicular to its faces and is relatively more rigid in a plane parallel to its faces while being expansible radially around said holes and fastening means for releasably securing said strip elements together in lattice formation and engaging face-toface at junctions of said lattice formation, said fastening means comprising stud elements extending through aligned pairs of said holes at one of said junctions, and incorporating an outer shank member of tubular form having an axially extending bore and an inner shank member of greater cross-section than that of said bore, heads at respective opposite ends of said shank members, said outer shank member being expansible radially in response to relative axial movement of said inner shank member in pressing said beads manually into engagement with respective faces of said strip elements, to establish inward radial pressure from a part of said strip elements bordering said pair of aligned holes and frictional resistance to withdrawal of said inner shank member,

7. A shape-forming structure comprising a plurality of strip elements for forming a skeleton shell, each of said strip elements having faces of greater Width than the thickness of such element and having a plurality of holes extending through it between said faces and spaced apart longitudinally of such strip element, and each of said strip elements being formed of non-metallic material such that said strip element has components of both elastic and plastic deformability in a direction perpendicular to its faces and is relatively more rigid in a plane parallel to its faces while being expansible radially along said holes, and fastening means for releasabiy securing said strip elements together in lattice formation and engaging faceto-face at junctions of said lattice formation, said fastening means each including a plurality of shank portions extending through respective aligned pairs of said holes, heads at one set of ends of said shank portions to engage with respective faces of said strip elements, said shank portion incorporating means for elastically expanding at least part of said strip elements bordering said pair of aligned holes in response to manual pressure on said shank portions in a direction axially thereof and means at the other set of ends of said shank portions for connecting a plurality of them together, whereby said fastening means connects adjacent sections of said skeleton shell to each other.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 393,960 Borchert Dec. 4, 1888 505,133 Schell Sept. 19, 1893 582,101 Schell May 4, 1897 624,799 Haueis May 9, 1899 991,210 Kearns May 2, 1911 1,653,535 Bonhajo Dec. 20, 1927 2,127,941 Rock Aug. 23, 1938 2,481,561 Beall Sept. 13, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS 161,558 Switzerland July 1, 1933 635,459 Great Britain Apr. 12, 1950 

1. A SHAPE-FORMING STRUCTURE COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF STRIP ELEMENTS FOR FORMING A SKELETON SHELL, EACH OF SAID STRIP ELEMENTS HAVING FACES OF GREATER WIDTH THAN THE THICKNESS OF SUCH ELEMENT AND HAVING A PLURALITY OF HOLES EXTENDING THROUGH IT BETWEEN SAID FACES AND SPACED APART LONGITUDINALLY OF SUCH STRIP ELEMENT, AND EACH OF SAID STRIP ELEMENTS BEING FORMED OF NON-METALLIC MATERIAL SUCH THAT SUCH STRIP ELEMENT HAS COMPONENTS OF BOTH ELASTIC AND PLASTIC DEFORMABILITY IN A DIRECTION PERPENDICULAR TO ITS FACES AND IS RELATIVELY MORE RIGID IN A PLANE PARALLEL TO ITS FACES WHILE BEING EXPANSIBLE RADIALLY AROUND SAID HOLES, AND FASTENING MEANS FOR RELEASABLY SECURING SAID STRIP ELEMENTS TOGETHER IN LATTICE FORMATION AND ENGAGING FACE-TO-FACE AT JUNCTIONS OF SAID LATTICE FORMATION, SAID FASTENING MEANS COMPRISING STUD ELEMENTS EXTENDING THROUGH ALIGNED PAIRS OF SAID HOLES AT ONE OF SAID JUNCTIONS, AND INCORPORATING AN OUTER SHANK MEMBER HAVING AN AXIALLY EXTENDING OPENING AND AN INNER SHANK MEMBER ENGAGING IN SAID OPENING AND OF LARGER CROSS-SECTION THAN THAT AFFORDED BY SAID OPENING, HEADS AT EACH END OF SAID SHANK PORTION AND CONNECTED RESPECTIVELY TO SAID INNER AND OUTER SHANK MEMBER, THE LATTER BEING EXPANSIBLE RADIALLY IN RESPONSE TO RELATIVE AXIAL MOVEMENT OF SAID INNER SHANK MEMBER IN PRESSING SAID HEAD MEANS MANUALLY INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH RESPECTIVE FACES OF SAID STRIP ELEMENTS. 